All Discussions Tagged 'church' - Atheist Nexus2015-03-03T19:54:07Zhttp://www.atheistnexus.org/group/churchofatheism/forum/topic/listForTag?tag=church&feed=yes&xn_auth=noReligious atheistic titles?tag:www.atheistnexus.org,2011-07-05:2182797:Topic:14032262011-07-05T15:26:37.436ZJames Allisonhttp://www.atheistnexus.org/profile/JamesAllison
<p>I'm not sure, but do we really need atheists who carry religious titles, like Reverend? I thought atheism was trying to be everything that religion is not. If there is no god, then why the reverend crap? The word 'church' comes from the Greek and means 'assembly or community.' In it's original form it had no connotations to religion at all. Which is why the New Testament always refers to it as the 'church of god,' or some other similar title, to differentiate it from other 'churches' that…</p>
<p>I'm not sure, but do we really need atheists who carry religious titles, like Reverend? I thought atheism was trying to be everything that religion is not. If there is no god, then why the reverend crap? The word 'church' comes from the Greek and means 'assembly or community.' In it's original form it had no connotations to religion at all. Which is why the New Testament always refers to it as the 'church of god,' or some other similar title, to differentiate it from other 'churches' that abound.</p>
<p>An assembly of christians is a 'church' or assembly. An assembly of Muslims is a church. And an assembly of atheist or freethinkers is also a church. But so is an assembly of carpenters, musicians, or politicians. So the church of atheism, in and of itself, carries no religious identity. One does not have to have a religious title to perform weddings or bury the dead. Religious titles simply elevate people to positions that in reality don't exist. The only title Jesus ever accepted was that of <em>'Rabbi'</em> which means 'teacher.' One of the churches downfalls was when they made a differentiation between clergy and laity in the second and third centuries, something unheard of in the New Testament.</p>
<p>I pray the atheist movement will not be making the same mistake. I never called anyone Reverend when I was a Christian, and do not intend to start calling atheists by that title. Being an atheist means being free from the shackles of religion. Will adopting their cultures into our reality only bring back the very shackes we are trying to break free from? The KJV of the Bible uses the word <em><a target="_blank" href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=psalms%20111:9&amp;version=KJV">reverend</a> </em>only once, and uses it in reference to god/diety. Do we really want to go there?</p>